“Watson has been invaluable to me on many cases, Mr. Bond. Your presence here does not change that. To-night I go with two companions instead of one, for I shall not leave Watson behind.”
Bond acquiesced, and it was just prior to eight o’clock when Holmes produced a short jemmy and deftly forced the back window open. Holmes climbed through the window, as did I, with slight help from Mr. Bond.
Holmes immediately set to work. His method was just as I remembered it, though his sight had deteriorated, causing him to rely more heavily upon his lens. “We are not the first people to search this house to-night,” said Holmes. “A group of men searched this house less that an hour past.”
“What did they want?”
“I am not certain what specific they were looking for, but their methods were much like my own. They did not wish their search to be discovered.
“Halloa! What is this?”
“It is ash,” said I.
“It looks like it was spilled and cleaned up by hand,” said Bond.
“Precisely. The fellows who searched the house before us were interested in this ash. Therefore, I am as well.”
“Is it cigar ash?”
“No, Watson, it is indeed not. This ash confirms my theory and ends—Dear me! Gentlemen, on your guard!”
No sooner has Holmes raised his alarm than three men rushed out of the shadows at us. One of them yelled something I could not comprehend. It sounded like “forespender”, but this is not a proper English word. Nor was I ever able to trace the meaning of this cry.
My friend knows the art of baritsu and boxing, and even in his old age was able to fend off his foe awhile. My knowledge of fighting has always been limited to bare fisticuffs, and after dealing my man a single blow I was knocked to the floor. I was certainly at the mercy of my attacker and might have been killed (as might Holmes) had it not been for Mr. Bond. His expertise at fighting was immediately evident, and as he was in the prime of his youth, had no difficulty rendering his opponent unconscious. He then turned his attention toward aiding me, and having dispatched my assailant turned toward Holmes, who had his man in a weakening arm-hold. Bond struck a blow to the man’s neck, and Holmes let the unconscious man tumble from his grip.
“Mr. Bond, You may call your supervisors, or the Yard, or whomever you like, but it would be wise to move quickly against Miss Hudson. She is the informant, and your chain is complete.
“I have but one thing to verify, merely to appease my own curiosity. I must find them, and unless I missed my guess I know where they are.” We left the house, Mr. Bond and I curious as to what the “they” were which my friend spoke of.
Holmes walked across the lawn to the street, where he stopped in front of a sewer grate. The bars were spaced widely enough that one could see into the sewer. Holmes peered down, as did Bond and I. We observed, several feet down, several small disks of light. I was unable to take any meaning from them at the time.
“Just as I thought,” said Holmes.
The woman and our three attackers were apprehended during the night. Bond had left, presumably to oversee the matter. Since it was late, Holmes agreed to spend the night at my home. We spoke for a small time before retiring for the night, but my friend refused to talk of the evening’s events.
Mr. Bond arrived early in the morning, just as Holmes was preparing to leave. “Ah, Mr. Bond, I knew that you would come and that you would pose the same questions Watson has been asking since you departed from our company. I can now answer any questions you may have without the bother of having to repeat myself.”
“I would first like to thank you for solving the case, Mr. Holmes. The government owes you a great debt, as do I.”
“Hmph. You should rather be admonishing me for allowing my wits to dull through inactivity. I nearly caused our ends last evening.”
“How so?”
“I knew that someone had discretely searched the house before us. I then saw that someone had overturned the ash can to examine its contents. Yet there was a clear trace of ash left on the floor. I should have realized sooner that such carelessness during an otherwise clever search could only mean that our arrival had frightened the men into hurrying and hiding. Thus, they would still be in the house.”
“No harm was done, Mr. Holmes.”
“Thanks, entirely, to your efforts, Mr. Bond. Watson and I may owe you our lives.”
“Dr. Watson’s payment is his publications, which I have enjoyed reading. I’ll consider your debt paid in full if you will tell me how you solved the case.”
“Very well. When we arrived at the restaurant I immediately took notice of the cashier. He struck me as a very cautious man. He did not know that he had been discovered, but he carried the constant burden of fear. He was therefore very careful and assumed he may be observed at any moment. As you said, he attempted to look at each patron an equal amount of time. Yesterday he failed to do so. I do not know if that was his first mistake, or if your observers had simply not noticed prior ones, but in either case I noticed it. He looked at the first man, whom I had already discounted from our investigation, for nearly two minutes. That was the amount of time he thought it would take for his contact to convey the day’s message. He would wish to look for the shortest time possible, lest anyone notice his stares.
“I then observed that he stared at the girl for twelve seconds beyond two minutes. This immediately threw my suspicion toward the girl. If she were not the contact he would have looked at her for the same amount of time as the first man. However, if she was the contact and the message took longer than expected to convey, the cashier would be forced to look at her for a longer period. He then stared at the third man for an equal length of time as the girl, attempting to cover his tracks. I did not feel it necessary to remain until the fourth patron arrived, for I thought he would have no bearing on the case.”
“How was the girl delivering the message?”
“I was paying closer attention to the cashier, and was unable to determine the method. If you do not extract the information from her in the interrogation, it may never be known.
“With my suspicions on the girl, I directed your speech toward her. When you told me she had a house on Brooke Street, a wealthy section of town, yet was a tutor, I was suspicious. When you told me that she frequented the theatre and gave pounds at a time to beggars my suspicions were aroused further. Was the girl not living beyond her means? It was also interesting to note that her theatre attendance and alms-giving always occurred at the end of a week, and that one week she did not go to the theatre.
“I then had a working theory, based on precedent. As an investigator, I have become familiar with the history of crime, and it is a very unusual case that does not bear some resemblance to one that has occurred before. Are you familiar with the case of Ernest Sharpton?”
“No.”
“I am not surprised. The matter was never made public. Sharpton was the best assassinator of his day. He was hired by the Germans during the war, and they compensated him in an unusual way. They provided for his every need, including a house, and gave him a generous weekly allowance of funds. The catch was, however, that he was forbidden to save any money. This would keep him entirely dependent on his employers. He was told to eliminate his surplus at the end of each week. He was eventually discovered due to lavish spending at week’s end.
“The case sprang to my memory in connection to Miss Hudson’s behavior. She spent her money at the end of the week. However, she was careful. Going to the theatre once a week and giving alms to a beggar will not catch the attention of the average eye.
“When I left you yesterday I enquired into Miss Hudson’s situation. I discovered that she was not an heiress, and that she had no locatable source of money other than teaching. I therefore researched how she obtained her house and discovered that it is not in her possession, but is indeed owned by a small textile company I had previously heard nothing of. It was my strong suspicion that the company was a cover for your organization of information stealers.
“I now gathered that Miss Hudson’s situation was similar to Sharpton’s. Some malignant organization provided her with a home and money for her services, on the condition that she not save her surplus.
“When we reached the house I discovered ash that confirmed my theory. Miss Hudson spent some of her money at the theatre and by giving alms, but she was wise not to spend overmuch, lest she draw attention to herself. She therefore burned some of the money.”
“The ash was that of incinerated bills!” cried I.
“Precisely. The men we ran up against were also searching the house. I have no doubt that they are members of the organization, and were checking to make sure that Miss Hudson was not hoarding any money. As long as she did not, she would be at the mercy of the organization. If she tried discontinuing her service she would lose her house and her money and find herself in poor circumstances.”
“It all makes perfect sense,” said Bond, “but it would take a genius to connect all the points as rapidly as you did. Isabelle didn’t go to the theatre one week because she had used up her allowance earlier in the week. She only had a few coins, which she gave to the beggar. Yet last week she not only went to the theatre, but also gave a much more generous gift to the same beggar. She had not spent much during the week, and had so much left over that she was forced to burn some of the money.”
“You see, Mr. Bond. It is simplicity itself.”
“Then,” said I, finally comprehending, “the disks of light in the sewer were coins reflecting the moonlight.”
“Good old Watson! Miss Hudson could not burn them, nor store them in her house, for fear that the organization would find them and accuse her of hoarding them. She would rid herself of any coins in her possession at a week’s end by dropping them somewhere close by. I surmised that such a place could be the nearest sewer. It was perhaps partly luck that I found them so quickly.”
“Amazing. Mr. Holmes, you have paid your debt.” Mr. Bond offered his hand to Holmes and me, in turn.
“I wish you luck in your future cases, Mr. Bond,” said Holmes. “I shall sleep easier knowing there are young men such as you keeping England safe while old men such as I tend to less important matters.”
Mr. Bond left, followed shortly by my old friend. Thus it was that my final case with Holmes ended. As one of the brightest lights in England returned to quiet retirement, the new light of a promising young man was just beginning to shine. I expect Mr. Bond shall go on to take part in great things.
Bond set the papers down on the table and sat back. Watson’s account of the case was fairly accurate. Bond now had one piece of knowledge that had eluded Watson. The man who had attacked them had not said “forespender”. He had been part of an organization that would years later become the major criminal organization of the world.
The man had said, “For SPECTRE.”
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